The present invention relates to a driving instruction system intended to contribute to the driving safety and the saving of energy by monitoring the driving conditions all the time and issuing an alarm against an unsafe behaviour or an uneconomical driving operation of the driver.
Conventionally it is known a system in which the automobile speed, engine rotational speed or abrupt braking is detected and an alarm is issued against any abnormal value of such an operation.
Generally, on the other hand, an operating recorder is mounted in an automobile and the figures recorded in this device are analyzed thereby to determine the driving conditions.
The true driving conditions cannot be determined by a single phenomenon such as the vehicle speed or engine rotational speed, and it has so far been difficult to issue a proper alarm satisfactory to the driver.
Further, in conventional systems, an alarm is simply issued upon detection of an improper driving condition, and what has been improper is not analyzed nor used as data for educational control of the driver.
Also, in spite of the fact that the changes in vehicle speed, engine rotational speed or operating conditions are recorded in the operating recorder and the record is analyzed, the resolution of the recording paper of the operating recorder is limited so that a bulky and expensive machine is required to process the obtained data mechanically. In addition, an accurate analysis has not yet been realized.
The above analysis of the data is made almost manually and it requires great time and expenses.
In view of the disadvantages of the conventional systems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automotive driving instruction system which monitors the driving conditions more generally than in conventional systems and also contributes to safer and more economical driving. The automobile driving system according to this invention comprises a plurality of sensors mounted at various parts of the automobile in order to determine the driving conditions, calculates the driving conditions all the time on the basis of the states of the respective sensors, determines whether the result of calculation meets a predetermined conditions, and issues a warning on the basis of the result of determination. The system according to this invention comprises also a replaceable external memory unit for storing the accumulated value of not only all the alarms but also the accumulated values of the respective alarms for each of causes of alarming, the external memory unit being adapted to be demounted at the end of a driving so that the data therein is processed on a processor. The data thus processed are indicated thereby to clarify and correct any habit of the driver involved.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention described below, an alarm is issued while at the same time indicating the total number of such an alarm, thus enhancing the consciousness of the driver.
Further, working switches for "driving", "loading", "rest" and the like are provided, and each time these switches are operated, the state of the switches and the time involved are stored in the external memory unit. The data thus stored are processed in a processor. In this way, it is possible to prepare data on the driving control useful for instructing the driver on safe driving.
According to the present invention, the changes in vehicle speed or engine rotational speed are recorded merely in time series but are processed at real time, so that an alarm is issued and indicated from time to time against an unsafe behaviour or an uneconomical driving. In this way, a standard is set for the driving which has so far been often governed by dogmatism, thus enlightening the driver.
Furthermore, the driver's work is properly distributed by recording the working conditions of the driver so as not to impose harsh work on the driver.
As a result, the system according to the present invention is expected to make great contributions to the safety, economy and labor control of the driver and driving.